Luck Unlooked For
by PowerOfFail
Summary: Neville is rather nervous about his upcoming interview for the newly-opened Herbology position at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Luckily for him, Luna knows all things lucky... NL/LL


The day was a mild one, the weather just warm enough to lull the unguarded into a calm sleep. As it was, Neville was just on the brink of slipping into the world of dreams as he lay beneath the powdered sky. The clouds dotted the pale blue like delicate white sprinkles fallen upon the icing of a cupcake. Rich green blades swayed lightly as the wind passed lazily by, every now and again swatting him lightly on the head as the sun climbed ever higher in the sky, and as it did, flowers of all different colours opened wide: showing off their beauty for the world to see, their pollen drawing the bees and butterflies to them.

_It shouldn't be too hard for anyone to ignore a fine day such as this, even one with a black heart such as Voldemort_,_ maybe even the Slytherins could enjoy themselves for once…_Neville thought to himself, having no problem with understanding and appreciating nature at it's best. As such, in a few short hours, he was to find himself before the professors of Hogwarts to give an interview for the position of Herbology professor that had opened with the closing of the school year. To say he was nervous was an understatement, he wasn't sure he qualified, unsure if love of nature and an impressive arsenal of knowledge on the subject would be sufficient enough to land him the job.

"Neville…May I take the space beside you?" Someone said. Neville pulled himself out of his thoughts, and turned his head to look at a young woman with what seemed to be a permanently-fixed dreamy gaze on her face.

"Sure." Neville replied with a shrug, unwilling to turn away the company of one of his good friends.

"Ginny mentioned that you were due for an interview today." Luna mentioned casually.

"I am. I hope I get this job, I'm not sure what I want to do, otherwise…" Neville admitted, as usual feeling like there was nothing to hide when talking to Luna. She was silent for a moment, considering his words, or perhaps her attention had wandered. In the silence, Neville could hear the joyful laughter of their other friends carried by the wind. Vaguely he felt the desire to join them, but found basking in the sun's warm glow just as enjoyable. Suddenly he realized Luna was waiting patiently to speak, and he snapped his attention back to the conversation.

"You will be fine. No one else showed the interest you did when it came to that subject." Luna commented nonchalantly, turning to look fully at Neville, "I'm not sure anyone else knows as much as you, perhaps Hermione…" she let her sentence trail.

"Perhaps." Neville echoed. Absentmindedly he fiddled with the old D.A. galleon about his neck, having charmed a tiny hole in it so he could hang it on a string -- for emergencies, of course. Luna noticed his fidgeting and said, "You have many charms?"

Neville smiled sheepishly and replied, "All of the lucky ones I could think of…"

"There is one you're missing." Luna replied as she sat up. She looked around the field they were in, then seeing what she wanted, held out her hand and waited patiently. A moment later, a dragonfly landed lightly on her finger. Neville noticed nothing special about this dragonfly, no specific markings; it was, to be frank, quite ordinary.

"What is it?" He asked, suspecting it to be some strange creature of Luna's invention. An expert on magical plants he may be, but fictional creatures were a mystery to him.

"Just a normal dragonfly…I was told that if a dragonfly landed on you, it was good luck." She looked back at him, then continued, "I thought that maybe you would like one last bit of luck, luckier than Felix Felicis."

Neville was skeptical, but held out his hand, waiting patiently as Luna had done. There were plenty of dragonflies flitting about, enjoying the nice weather just like the magic-folk, grateful to their antics for stirring up the bugs to eat, and so Neville did not have to wait long before a beautiful blue one gracefully touched down on his palm.

Luna smiled then nodded. Before long he noticed that a ladybug had crawled its way onto his shoe, drawing his attentiont to the smaller systems of animals he'd never thought about. He laughed at the thought of what Ron would say if he saw just how many spider communities there were in the tall grass that went usually so unnoticed. Neville fancied he could still see a few drops of dew held precariously on one colourful spider's web hanging between two flowers.

"Are any of others lucky as well?" Neville asked his long-time friend.

"One never knows just where to find luck; it's harder to find when looked for…" Luna replied in a misty voice, causing Neville to laugh again, long since having gotten over her obscurities of speaking in riddles.

They wore away the rest of the afternoon laying in the cool grace, mindful of its tiny residents, and pointed out cloud shapes to one another. Finally as dusk fell and the sky became a deep blue velvet blanket marred only by the white stars shimmering so far away almost outshone by the brilliant moon casting it's silver glow did Neville, reluctantly, get up to leave. His friends wished him good luck, and with a nod and a brave smile, he swiftly made his way to Hogwarts, feeling as if he were prepared for anything.

* * *

A month later to the day the weather was just the same. The sun shone just as bright and warmed the darkest places with its golden glow, casting light to make even the blackest shadows dim. On that day, Neville received a letter from Hogwarts, confirming his title as the new Herbology Professor. He was proud and grateful, and when he turned to send a reply to his former Transfiguration professor, he spotted a blue dragonfly sitting on the windowsill…

* * *

**A/N:: I don't own Harry Potter!!! =O Surpriseee!**  
So explanation? -- Long ago my mother told me that if a dragonfly lands on you then it's good luck, and who in the Hp world would know all about luck? Chyah-der, Luna. Yet, I think it'd've been cooler if it'd been like...a Luna month, y'know? Woohoo. symbolism. Haha and the constant imagery? This is the product of reading the Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales one after the other. O Tolkien, master of imagery, you influence many. (is it wrong to praise the author of LOTR in an Hp fanfic? These are the questions that keep me awake at night...)


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